Mindful Torah...and more

     Covid-time related confusion took hold of me yesterday.       I posted my commentary on Parshat Bo, which I forgot to post last week, and did not post my commentary on this week's Torah portion. So here it is....a day late. Shabbat Shalom! ----------------------------------------------- This week's parashah is Beshallakh ( Exodus/Shemot 13:17-17:16 )  week's parashah is Beshalach. Pharaoh has not just allowed the Israelites to leave, but he almost forced them out of the land after the tenth plague, the death of the first born. Now they are standing on at the shore of the sea of Reeds waiting to see what comes next. Once again, Pharaoh has had a change of heart. Suddenly they see that him and all of Egypt's chariots bearing down upon them at the shore of the Sea of Reeds. The people are crying out to Moses in fear. His basic response is to tell them to watch as God performs a miracle for them. God then replies to Moses “Why are you crying out...

Today is the seventh day of the festival of Pesakh/Passover, the feast celebrating the redemption from Egyptian slavery. According to tradition, this is the day when the Israelites crossed Yam Suf /the Sea of Reeds (or Red Sea, if you prefer the older translations). Most of us are familiar with this event from Bible stories we have read or movies we have seen, and yet there is much more contained within this story than meets the eye. According to midrash (rabbinic lore) the seas split not merely because Moses raised his staff over the water, but because one man dare to enter the waters on his own without waiting for Moses or anyone else to take action. This man, Nachshon ben Aminadav, understood that in order to achieve freedom and salvation we must not merely wait around or pray for it, but we must act as partners with God in order to make it happen! It was Nachshon’s bravery and his faith in the divine-human partnership that enabled him to enter the raging waters ...